Energy systems are the engine of economic and social development. Their investments represent a sizeable portion of a country’s GDP. Indeed, energy is essential to practically all aspects of human welfare, including access to water, agricultural productivity, health care, education, job creation and environmental sustainability.

The World Meteorological Organization has been awarded the 2018 LUI Che Woo Prize for Welfare Betterment. The citation recognizes that the persistent effort of WMO has been “pivotal in the tenfold reduction in global loss of life from extreme weather, climate and water-related events observed over the past half-century.”

It has been described as the most important report ever published in the 30-year history of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and an “ear-splitting wake-up call to the world.” The new report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C made headline news around the world with its stark message that limiting warming to 1.5 °C would require unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society.

The climate science community can play an important role in addressing public health challenges. Many human diseases and health conditions are sensitive to changes in temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind and other environmental conditions such as air and water quality. Climate information can thus be used as a sign of risk and to inform disease monitoring and health research. In some cases, it can be used to predict when and where disease outbreaks may occur, in relation to expected climate conditions.